Administration cuts

The savings included 162m euros slashed off the proposed funding for EU administration. There would also be a freeze on nearly all staff recruitment in Brussels.

The European Schools, attended by the EU civil servants' children, would take a 13m-euro cut and pension payments for retired EU officials would be cut by 22m euros.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU budget parameters should reflect the austerity budgets adopted by national governments in the EU.

"As we reduce our deficits, I think it is very important that we both argue to make sure that the European budget is, over time, reduced rather than increased," he said.

He was speaking at a joint news conference in London with his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

"We cannot ask our members of the public to pay more in the UK and have to pay more in Europe as well," Mr Cameron said.

The UK and Denmark voted against the amended budget, as did Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, because they wanted a lower overall figure or smaller allocations in certain areas.

But the full European Council - the body grouping all 27 member states - had a majority in favour of the revised 2011 budget plan.

MEPs are expected to push for higher spending than the national governments are proposing.